NGOs call for end to controversial aid distributor in Gaza as more people gunned down at hub
The signatories of a statement to that effect, which included Oxfam and Amnesty International, also urged for the lifting of the Israeli blockade on aid and commercial supplies. It said that the 400 aid distribution points operating during the temporary ceasefire in Gaza have now been replaced by just four military-controlled distribution zones.
These zones are 'forcing two million people into overcrowded, militarised zones where they face daily gunfire and mass casualties while trying to access food and are denied other life-saving supplies,' the statement set out.
It also railed against the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF). The GHF is a controversial US organisation backed by Israel that has been providing aid to Palestinians in Gaza – but its hub has been the site of countless deadly shootings of those awaiting aid.
According to figures from the territory's civil ministry, more than 500 people have died at the hub in recent weeks and thousands more have been injured. Israeli newspaper
Haaretz
reported last week that soldiers serving in the Israeli Defence Forces have been ordered to deliberately shoot at Palestinians awaiting humanitarian aid.
Palestinians carry humanitarian aid packages near the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation distribution centre.
Alamy Stock Photo
Alamy Stock Photo
Yesterday, Israeli forces killed another 74 people in Gaza, witnesses and health officials said. Thirty were killed in air strikes while 23 others were gunned down as they awaited food.
One air strike hit Al-Baqa Cafe in Gaza City when it was crowded with women and children, said Ali Abu Ateila, who was inside.
'Without a warning, all of a sudden, a warplane hit the place, shaking it like an earthquake,' he said.
Dozens of people were wounded, many critically, alongside at least 30 people killed, said Fares Awad, head of the health ministry's emergency and ambulance service in northern Gaza.
Two other strikes on a Gaza City street killed 15 people, according to Shifa Hospital, which received the casualties. A strike on a building killed six people near the town of Zawaida, according to Al-Aqsa hospital.
The cafe, one of the few businesses to continue operating during the 20-month war, was a gathering spot for residents seeking internet access and a place to charge their phones.
Videos circulating on social media showed bloodied and disfigured bodies on the ground and the wounded being carried away in blankets.
Meanwhile, Israeli forces killed 11 people who had been seeking food in southern Gaza, according to witnesses, hospitals, and Gaza's health ministry.
Nasser Hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis said it received the bodies of people shot while returning from an aid site associated with the GHF.
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The shootings happened around 1.8 miles from the GHF site in Khan Younis, as Palestinians returned from the site along the only accessible route.
Palestinians are often forced to travel long distances to access the GHF hubs in hopes of obtaining aid.
Nasser Hospital said an additional person was killed near a GHF hub in the southern city of Rafah.
Another person was killed while waiting to receive aid near the Netzarim corridor, which separates northern and southern Gaza, according to Al-Awda hospital.
Ten other people were killed at a United Nations aid warehouse in northern Gaza, according to the health ministry's ambulance and emergency service.
The Israeli military said it was reviewing information about the attacks. In the past, the military has said it fires warning shots at people who move suspiciously or get too close to troops including while collecting aid.
Israel wants the GHF to replace a system coordinated by the United Nations and international aid groups. Along with the United States, Israel has accused the militant Hamas group of stealing aid and using it to prop up its rule in the enclave.
The UN denies there is systematic diversion of aid.
The Israeli military said it had recently taken steps to improve organization in the area, including the installation of new fencing and signage and the opening of additional routes to access aid.
Israel says it only targets militants and blames civilian deaths on Hamas, accusing the militants of hiding among civilians because they operate in populated areas.
The military intensified its bombardment campaign across Gaza City and the nearby Jabaliya refugee camp. On Sunday and Monday, Israel issued widespread evacuation orders for large swaths of northern Gaza.
Palestinians reported massive bombing overnight into Monday morning, describing the fresh attacks as a 'scorched earth' campaign that targeted mostly empty buildings and civilian infrastructure.
The Israeli military said it had taken multiple steps to notify civilians of operations to target Hamas' military command and control centres in northern Gaza.
The war has killed more than 56,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's health ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants. It says more than half of the dead were women and children.
The Hamas attack on 7 October 2023 killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took 251 others hostage. Some 50 hostages remain, many of them thought to be dead.
Includes reporting from Press Association
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